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<br />accordance with the Division's requirements. Each mine working area was held to about <br />1.5 acres in size and was to be completely restored and re-vegetated (seeded) before <br />stripping in another area began. No more than 1.5 acres was to have been exposed at <br />one time. The initial boxcut overburden material was to have been used to reclaim the <br />last 1.5 acre stripped area, providing for only temporary stockpiling of overburden <br />material from the initial cut. The remaining disturbances, comprised of a sediment pond <br />and one haul road, were not to be reclaimed, but were proposed to be left in stable <br />condition at the request of the landowner. <br />Sediment and drainage control at the site has been accomplished by diversion ditches <br />and a system of road drainage and collection ditches and culverts which direct disturbed <br />runoff to a sediment pond at the base of the disturbed area. <br />Coal mining operations began in the last half of November, 1992. The expectation at <br />the time was that 100,000 tons of coal would be mined from the west side during Phase <br />I of the operation. A series of five pits, each 40 feet wide and 800 feet to 900 feet long, <br />would be developed, with reclamation of the pits occurring contemporaneously. <br />Approximately 6,000 tons of coal would be produced per month, with coal quality at <br />around 12,000 BTU. Phase II operations on the east side of Engleville Gulch were to <br />yield 50,000 tons of coal. However, coal quality sharply declined as the first pit <br />advanced to the north. In addition, a hard sandstone bed, 4 feet thick, capped the coal, <br />increasing overburden removal costs. After only filling several coal rail cars with coal, <br />the operations were halted. Notification of temporary cessation status was received at <br />the Division on February 11, 1993. <br />Backfilling and grading of the Phase I pit commenced in the Spring of 1993. The area <br />disturbed by the West strip pit was 7.89 acres. This area received final grading during <br />the summer of 1993. Additional areas were disturbed on site for access roads, a <br />sediment pond, a topsoil stockpile, a fuel storage area, an office area, two drill sites, and <br />a collection ditch totaling 3.23 acres. These additional support areas, with the exception <br />of the oil containment area, were reclaimed in 1993. <br />Rimrock Coal Company leased two rail loadouts from Energy Fuels Mining Company, <br />Santa Fe Loadouts Nos. 1 and 2, located in the town of Trinidad, Colorado. The <br />operator for Rimrock Coal Company, Landmark Reclamation, Inc., reclaimed both <br />loadouts during the summer of 1993. Energy Fuels Mining Company held the <br />reclamation bond and maintained the reclamation liability for both of the loadouts. <br />Landmark Reclamation, Inc., retains no liability for reclamation of the Santa Fe loadouts. <br />Topsoil replacement and seeding of the permanent seed mix were accomplished at the <br />mine site in the summer and fall 1993. In October 1994 the Division determined that not <br />all stockpiled topsoil had been utilized. Remaining topsoil was redistributed by the <br />operator at the southern end of the permit area in November 1994. Contour furrows <br />were established and seeding of the southern end occurred at the end of 1994. The oil <br />containment area was graded and topsoil applied in November 1994. Seeding, <br />mulching and netting of the former topsoil stockpile footprint and the oil containment <br />